even more added to 2 for 1!

okay, i just need to say, we are getting carried away with this 2 for 1 business. we have added more since black friday and it's all flying out with nice peeps which is awesome. good deals, good gifties. we added some waste not stationary and card pack combo's yesterday and some cool journals but not many so hurry in. also assorted wrapping paper sheets are a great deal at 2 for 1, use em' now or later or frame some of them, they're that pretty. we also put some organic thermal baby blankets on 2 for 1 from pixel organics and a baby book set that makes a great gift for a new family. i know there's more but i wanted to let you in on a few things while i have a quick sec. am home with red today. his first bday is coming up xmas eve! now i finally understand what folks mean when they say it goes fast. the days can feel long but the moments fly by. does that make sense? anyhoo, knowing me there will be more added as time passes and space becomes available. it does mean the sale in january will be substantially smaller but better to get the deals now, right?
xo,
suz

a continuation of 2 for 1

wowee, that's a lot of 2 for 1 goodness!

so the 2 for 1 began in a more formal fashion yesterday and what a flurry of excitement it created. once we started the bundling the goodies we had listed we found more and more we felt inspired to include. the list now includes the following:

moleskine, yes moleskine. all that we have are 2 for 1!!!

dash and albert blankets 2 for $68 (serious deal here, these are awesome)

colored pencil sets 2 for $5 (great stocking stuffer for kids)

grab bags full of great surprises 2 for $16.50 (the contents of which will bring back memories for you older folks!!)

even more decals!

among the other additions:

sea urchin and wine cork placecard holders 2 for $4 and $2
18" utility shams 2 for $42

angela adams 2x3 rugs 2 for $76

lavender eye pillows 2 for $22
ink for stamping 2 for $6.75
nicole larue headbands 2 for $12


come see us soon, and hope you had a good gobble gobble day!

our economic stimulus package(s)

so we were thinking of ways to encourage good gift giving this year. we know times are tight but it's xmas, and it's hard to refrain from the festivities. giving just feels good, plain and simple. here is what we have up our sleeves. we are having a 2 for 1 sale on lots of fun goodies, some of them are even already wrapped! some are out now & some will be out black friday bright and early. here is a list of we have come up with so far:

sniff tissue packets in fun prints 2 for $3.50

apivita to go packets (skin, face and hair care)

aluminum post it note holders 2 for $10

lafco bath salt packets 2 for $10

cool aluminum cases (wallet like) 2 for $15

vibrant nylon bags that can be zipped into a pouch 2 for $15

jill bliss posters 2 for $20

sabre french utensils (we have peelers, bottles openers, demitasse spoons, cake knives....)

decals by dvider 2 of the same priced decal for 1 (range from 30 to 56 and come in tubes)

and the best for last are the lotta jansdotter pillows 2 for 1. these are no longer made by lotta, making them super rare and super special! they are amazing and would make a beautiful gift (or you could give 1 and keep 1).

quantities are all limited, some more than others, so come stock up. many of the goodies will fit perfectly in a stocking! (we've got those, too.) hey, and have nice thanksgiving.

avert your eyes if....

..you shy away from xmas goodies before thanksgiving. we just couldn't wait. the goods were piling up and being so patient for their turn. we even started decorating, i know, it seems early but really xmas is only 30 some odd days away. at o'suzannah we do have a love of xmas but for so many reasons. we always have a craft night leading up to xmas. last year we made mobiles, one of which hangs in red's room, made by yours truly when i was 8 months pg. the year before last we made pomanders and paper garlands, one of which is also hanging in red's room. we always feast on xmas themed delights and sip champagne. it's so fun. we also do a gift exchange that can sometimes get al little crazy. (last years table of loot) i love to spoil the girls. it brings me great pleasure and likewise they always spoil me. i am always lucky to be surrounded by such giving and kind women. this year we think we might do paper and cloth covered clothes pins and sugar and salt scrubs with peppermint and perhaps lavender and maybe even a grapefruit if we are on a roll. it's sure to be fun and crafty. pics to follow.

we also love doing our windows with fun themes and our first window's theme for the holiday is none other then CRAFT . (window by jessuca stewart , our very own display queen) we have stamp kits,individual stamps and inks, knitting kits, cards galore, ornaments of the crafty kind, cookbooks for making sweets and so on.

lastly we love the times when the store is brimming with peeps all jostling to view the goods, perhaps buy them and then have them all wrapped up by the gals at o'suz.
stay tuned for more window photos, this one was taken late at night but i wanted to get some news out to you faithful readers so i stuck it in.

we heart night owl.

a couple of years ago we received a snazzy mailer in the post from a new-ish (est. 2004) stationer called night owl paper goods, out of birmingham, owlabama. and yes, everything that partners jennifer and alan make has "owlabama" printed somewhere on it, which is one of the most charming things about their goods. we were really sold on the line after i snagged some cards during a visit to birmingham -- i literally came home with piles of night owl stationery. we were impressed not only by the designs themselves but also by the quality of the materials and the printing. after that, we were hooked!


when we first started carrying night owl, most of their work was comprised of letterpress flats and cards. it's been exciting to see their work evolve, and we're loving the luxe new paper and simple but sincere sentiments.

the above is hands down one of my favorite cards ever. it's the kind of card that's great if there's a specific occasion for acknowledging a friendship but can just as easily be sent as a sweet mailbox surprise. the simplicity of the design and the straightforward nature of the message just strike the perfect note!


more recently night owl has been working extensively with sustainably harvested yellow birch wood. in this case increasingly adorable graphics are printed onto a thin piece of wood, and the back is free for you to inscribe in pen or pencil. the fact that these are all made from wood also means they're all different -- there are variations in tone and grain and even the occasional knot. not only is writing on and mailing wood awesome, but, hello, mister puppy here is one charming google-eyed canine!


more recently night owl has expanded their work with the eco-friendly birch to include notebooks, desk notepads, and jotters. and since we are calendar-obsessed at o'suzannah, we are especially pumped about the 2009 calendar, which also includes sustainably harvested walnut and douglas fir. this 12-month desk calendar features six double-sided pages with a sweet new design every month. i gotta tell you, it's going to be hard not to bring this one home with me...get them while you can!

night owl has even moved beyond stationery and has introduced a few tote bags with some of their signature images. these fair trade totes are super roomy and are made of 100% recycled natural and organic fibers. then they are silkscreened in birmingham, and the night owl label is handstitched on the top. perfect for library books or grocery shopping!



i apologize if the above card sent anyone into a panic -- don't fret, it's only november 5. i just couldn't pass up the opportunity to show you some of my favorite holiday cards from night owl. seriously, have you ever seen such adorable owlies? here are mr. and mrs. claus, chillaxing on the mantel, getting toasty by the fire. i get a little warm and fuzzy just looking at it. on a more technical note, these cards are from the faux bois series, which is printed on fsc-approved 100% post-consumer recycled paper. you say cute and eco-friendly, we say awesome!


here's another sweet mantelpiece, this one letterpressed and sans owls, with a simple message. isn't this just the coziest fireplace ever?

i can't resist these owls. they're wearing belts, for goodness sake. these are some lovely little enclosure cards printed on birch that are perfect for tucking into a package or attaching to a gift.

i hope you've found night owl as endearing as we have. we have so many more amazing cards in the shop that i couldn't show you here, so please come visit us! xoxo, jessica

november love it...jill bliss!

the first time i walked into o'suzannah, i knew immediately that it would become my favorite store, in part because, holy moly, there were so many handmade goods by artists whose work i'd only ever seen in my online travels. among those represented, it was all the lovely jill bliss merch that sent me over the edge -- the cloth wallets, the paper products, the bags that i had previously only been able to imagine were there before me. it was a little slice of jill bliss heaven.


when i think of jill's work, my mind divides it into two categories which often merge and overlap. the first is the fabric goods, and in particular the wallets and checkbooks she creates out of what must be an AMAZING stash of vintage sheets. she gives these linens a new life by sewing them into carefully crafted credit card and change pockets. my mom's been rocking her mini pocket wallet for nearly two years now!


and then there's jill's stunning illustration and design, which focuses on the natural world around her, whether it be undersea specimens or the native flora of the west coast (and even the occasional californian banana slug). there is an incredible amount of detail in jill's work, and it seems to almost vibrate with color.


not only are we thrilled to always have jill bliss originals in the shop, but we also carry many of the products produced through her collaborations with my favorite mirror, ipop, and chronicle books. most recently we received a nice big box direct from jill containing her 2009 gathered together wall calendar and the floral leaves datebook. come check them out, and i hope you enjoy reading jill's interview below! xoxo, jessica


what was your first job and how did you end up making all of your amazing goods?

my first job was helping my mom make christmas crafts to sell when i was a kid. we lived on a farm then, and got paid once a year, in january, for the summer prune and fall walnut harvests. by october we'd be low on funds, so i'd help my mom make raggedy anne and andy's, quilts, pom pom tree decorations, and, my fave, spice ropes!

most of the things i make these days are a result of something needed by either myself, my friends, or my customers. i love paper, i love fabric, trims, notions, beads, small things, and i love organizing things, and i love pockets.

what is your favorite piece/group/series in your work?

i love them all equally like children! but i secretly love the newest things a little bit more than the rest. right now my mom is teaching me how to crochet. you'll see the results late this year!


who or what inspires you?

i'm inspired by little natural or colorful elements i see when traveling, hiking or walking. i like to challenge myself to recreate these elements in drawn form or with various pre-made items or fabric in my studio.

what three websites do you visit daily?

uh, i must confess i'm not good at keeping up with the blogs or news online. i prefer to talk in person or email and text my friends. and i like to watch news on tv. i do visit google, google maps, and thesaurus.com pretty much every day though. oh, and hulu.com. now i can watch tv shows and movies on my laptop while i sew!

we don't have this piece, redwood sorrel, in the shop, but i couldn't
resist showing it to you! it's an original drawing available on jill's site.

describe your ideal sunday.

it's overcast and misty raining in the morning so me and my dog sleep in. we get up, have breakfast, water, weed and harvest in the garden. by then the rain has stopped, so we get on the bus and the light rail and go to forest park for a hike. we get back home in the early evening. lucy [my dog] has dinner, and i leave her home and ride my bike to meet a friend for dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, navarre. i meet up with other friends for after-dinner drinks at a bar somewhere, and ride my bike slowly home about 11 pm.

what do you see outside your studio windows?

my vegetable garden!

in the words of....

NIKKI MCCLURE





nikki mcclure may just be my favorite artist to date, past and present.
i guess she speaks to my strong sense of family, especially now that i have been growing my own. one of our windows right now is a tribute to both her work that we carry and our upcoming election. see more of her works here. and VOTE please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

windows on fourth

since opening in our new space on 4th street we have had a blast changing the windows. i have always loved this part of owning my own store and these windows just might be the best we have had yet, to work with. they are more or less symmetrical which makes it easier on the brain and they are just the perfect size. usually jessica hits one and i hit the other and we create themes. the first theme, fitting for september, was back to school and as you can see above the rather large bla bla are hittin' the books, and in style i might add.

one of next themes was autumn. browns and greens and of course oranges (below).

i will say, my energy increases with the onset of fall and winter. i love this time of year.

the colors, the smells, the cooler air (yeah) and the merch! i love fall merch. 

i also love halloween. as a rule, holidays that involve loads of candy without guilt are the best.

so, with these windows we yin yanged it a bit. one side serious fall stuff & the other mostly spooky halloweenish treats. 
these bla bla dolls are caught in the act of trying to disguise themselves for halloween. leonardo always wanted to be a panda,  verdi a masked stranger and wink wanted to be a lion, so poof, they are transformed. scared?

                         ....and you can't forget our selection of owlies. oh how we love them. 

               oh and all of our halloween stamps including skulls, bats, crows, pumpkins etc...

                                                                   fall window cont... 

and so on. you get the idea. our hope for future months, for you fans afar, is to take quick pics of our new windows as they are revealed.  we might also give a little description of their contents to keep you all up to date on what we are thinking about and perhaps what is new. some windows will have an obvious theme, some will be more subtle. all will be fresh and fun so stay tuned for our VOTE window to be followed with our first november windows. we also hope to put out xmas cards next week. i know it seems super early but peeps are always asking in october so we are feeling the pressure. be sure though that it will not look like xmas in the shop just quite yet we just want you loyal card givers to get a jump on the season. 

did you say italian cashmere?

so the latest juicy box to cross the osuz threshhold was from portolano. if you have shopped me for any number of years you know this line is a staple for us come fall and winter.
a little backround:
{The history of Portolano as a glove producer began in Naples when Aldo and Ivo's grandfather, Fortunato Portolano, began manufacturing in the year 1895. The company was a pioneer of the Italian glove exporters and as early as 1911, Portolano was selling leather gloves to the United States and the British colonies.}
nowadays they make and sell all manner of knits and leather including stuff for kids!!
here are some quick pics to peruse and with the chill in the air you might even wanna snag some. thanks to all models (hee hee) for this impromtu photo shoot!

roll call

okay, so we have had so much fun doing this blog... but let me tell ya, it is an effort keeping up with our own ideas, all the amazing artists we support and love, and the clock, as it tick tocks each passing week. what we want to know is IS ANYONE READING IT? not to shout, but we ARE dying to know if it is fun to read and if anyone outside of our lovely fan base (but please you write too) is reading and enjoying it. this would make it all worth it. SO, we are asking for anyone who reads and enjoys our blog to say as much. if you are shy, just say "HERE". i know it will take an extra sec but we would be sosososo appreciative to know "who goes there?"

love

suz